Newark Social Security Disability Law Blog

Many people work their entire lives without encountering an illness or injury serious enough to keep them from being able to work for a year or longer. Unfortunately, the chance of suffering a disabling condition grows increasingly greater as we age. Unfortunately, the real-life consequences of a disability may, as well. At age 50, many people are in their most productive and highest-earning years, but many are also contributing simultaneously to launching their children's lives and to supporting older relatives.

Say you're 50 or 55. If you suffer a catastrophic injury or receive a serious diagnosis, you could suddenly find yourself unable to perform the work you've been doing your whole career. The cumulative effects of decades' worth of injuries and stress could finally reach the point where you can't work. What do you do now?

You may have looked into applying Social Security disability, only to find that you don't seem to meet all of the medical criteria. Don't give up.

Sometimes in life, we are given second chances. There was recently a story of a man who had received a second chance after he had made mistakes and spent time in prison.

Though he was struggling financially, he was doing the most important things: holding on to a job, paying his bills and staying on the straight and narrow. The 46-year-old had even found love, developing a long-distance online romance. Then his second chance at life seemed to evaporate.

He made millions laugh over the years and in recent days, he made many cry when they heard the news of his tragic passing. Robin Williams will long be remembered as a comic genius and a skilled dramatic actor as well.

But in the days following his death, we learned that he was also an ordinary man fighting battles on fronts familiar to many in New Jersey: depression, anxiety and Parkinson’s Disease.

Treasury Secretary Jacob “Jack” Lew was born a stone’s throw from Newark. The New York City native recently made headlines when he said Congress could fix Social Security Disability Insurance funding shortfalls with a simple shifting of payroll tax revenues.

The plan would not raise taxes and would not raise spending, but it would help secure the benefits needed by millions of Americans prevented by illness from working.

On the list of cancer rates in the United States, many of the Northeast’s states can be found near the top. While New Jersey is not among the states with the very highest rates (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine), it’s in the second highest grouping, along with New York and Vermont, among others.

Despite the relatively high ranking, the good news to be found in a recent article is that the lung cancer rate in the Garden State is trending downward. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, though New Jersey is among the second highest tier of cancer incidence, it’s in the second lowest for cancer fatalities.

Doctors can’t see it, touch it or measure it. They often have to rely on the patient’s word that it even exists, what form it takes and with what frequency it appears. It is chronic pain; a debilitating condition that can be difficult to diagnose and effectively treat.

Chronic pain can often lead a person into depression that adds another layer of difficulties in dealing with everyday problems such as raising children, the ups and downs of married life and maintaining employment. However, antidepressants can be a crucial part of an array of tools needed to combat chronic pain.

As we head into the Fourth of July three-day weekend, it’s a good time to pause and reflect not only on the values of the nation, but also some of its achievements and leaders. Widely considered one of the greatest presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped lead the country out of the Great Depression and through the years-long, monumental effort and sacrifice required to emerge triumphant in World War II.

It’s worth remembering that FDR did all this while dealing with a disability; he had contracted polio in the 1920s. His struggles with the effects of the disease have been well-documented. It’s believed by many historians that his determination to fight the effects of infantile paralysis, as polio is also known, was evidence of the character traits the nation later needed after Pearl Harbor.

She could not hear, but the words she spoke helped change America for the better. She could not see, but her vision helped create an activist community for people with disabilities. This Friday we celebrate the remarkable life and achievements of Helen Keller.

The worldwide organization Helen Keller International notes on its website that it has screened thousands of New Jersey students, including here in Newark, helping about one out of every five to receive the corrective eyewear they need. Keller would undoubtedly be proud of the organization, as well as of Social Security Disability, our government’s effort to help people who lose their ability to work to illness or injury.

Life is complicated. And when you are among the 29 million Americans with diabetes, the risk of developing other serious diseases rises. That can mean someone’s struggles with diabetes can be complicated by cardiovascular disease.

Many in Newark battling diabetes are also forced to contend with heart disease. In fact, according to the American Heart Association, strokes and heart diseases are the leading causes of death among those with Type 2 diabetes.

There are dazzling phone apps, Xbox games and computer software that can give users a sense of what it’s like to fly, fire weapons at zombies and aliens, steal cars, and make millions of dollars managing businesses. There are also an increasing number of digital simulations that can give the non-disabled some idea of what it’s like to have a disability.

Some critics wonder if the games and apps give anyone a true sense of life with a disability, any more than “Grand Theft Auto” games give players a sense of what a life of street crime does to a person.

The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.